The Old Faith
Description The Old Faith is the religion followed by Druids and Druidic Priests. Its origins are shrouded in the mists of prehistory and it is considerably older than the present-day Old World pantheon. The Old Faith revolves around nature and natural forces and it has strong associations with many ancient sites, such as barrows and stone circles, whose significance has long been forgotten by others. There is no major deity or pantheon ruling the Old Faith. Although its devotees do sometimes talk of a goddess whom they call The Mother, who symbolises the earth and the fertility of nature, they generally concern themselves with the forces of nature on a smaller scale, dealing with the energies which flow within the natural world; the concept of The Mother seems not to be a deity in a conventional sense, but an abstraction of the natural world and the energies used by the Druids. Alignment Neutral. Symbol The Old Faith does not normally use symbols in the same way as the other cults of the Old World, although carvings of circles, spirals, and discs are sometimes associated with stone cirles and barrows. Area Of Worship The Old Faith still exists in many parts of the Old World, principally in the north and west. As might be expected, it is strongest in rural areas, where there are large expanses of unspoilt natural landscape. Many Rangers follow the Old Faith, as well as Druids and Druidic Priests. Temples The Old Faith is based in the natural world and does not have formal shrines or temples. Instead, there are sacred groves - small clearings in the depths of the forest which serve as places of meeting and worship. To the casual observer, there is nothing special to mark a grove as sacred, but they are instantly recognisable to a Druid or Druidic Priest. Elves and Ranger characters can identify a sacred grove on a successful Int test. It is possible for a follower of the Old Faith to gain blessings from sacred groves in the same way as the followers of other deities receive them from temples and shrines. Further, sacred groves may protect themselves from those who seek to desecrate them by using their magical abilities; any creature affected by these powers must make a WP test or flee from the grove immediately. If a Druid is present, the grove will not attempt to defend itself, as this is the Druid's duty. Druids who fail in this duty lose one Fate Point and will not be able to use any spells until atonement has been made and the grove has been re-dedicated. Stone circles are also sacred sites of the Old Faith; they are relics of the age in which the Old Faith had its origins and are valueable sources of magical energy to those who know how to tap their power. It is the duty of every Druidic Priest to protect stone circles and to repair ruined or damaged circles where necessary. A Druid who stands idly by while a stone circle is destroyed invites retribution of the type described above for sacred groves. Friends And Enemies Most of the other cults tolerate the Old Faith, as secretly they are slightly in awe of the powers of the Druids and the forces of nature for which they stand. Relations are perhaps best with the cult of Taal, since he is the husband of Rhya, who is a form of The Mother. Holy Days The main holy days of The Old Faith are the summer and winter solstices and the spring and autumn equinoxes, which mark the turning of the seasons. Lesser holy days are associated with the full and new moons. Cult Requirements Druids must be Human, but there are no other restrictions on entry to this career. Familiars Characters who are successful in progressing to level 1 Druidic Priest are granted a vision in which a spirit-animal comes to them; players should roll once on the Familiar Table below to discover the familiar's species. This animal becomes the character's familiar and totem and follows the Druid everywhere. The familiar confers certain advantages to seal the pact between them and, in return, the Druid is required to keep certain strictures, in addition to the more general strictures of a Druidic Priest. The familiar is visible only to the Druid to whom it is attached, although characters with the Magical Awareness skill will be able to detect it as a vague outline. The familiar appears as a white or light-grey individual of the species it represents, with eyes that glow a deep amber colour. Being a spirit, it occupies no space in the material world and can affect nothing in it. By the same token, it can pass through walls and other physical obstructions and can only be harmed by magic. It has the normal characteristic scores for its species, except for Int, which is 89. A Druid whose familiar is killed for any reason loses 1D6 W, 1 T, and 1 Fate Point permanently and must begin a randomly-determined Ranger basic career immediately. The character may never again become a Druid. Familiars should be treated as NPCs and played by the gamesmaster. Players will doubtless think of many useful tasks that an invisible and pratically invulnerable spirit familiar can perform, especially in the scouting line, but it should be noted that the familiar will never go more than 5 yards away from its Druid. Also, the gamesmaster should endeavour to play the familiar as a personality and not let it be taken for granted. A rabbit familiar, for example, might be too timid to go on ahead alone, an otter might refuse to take scouting details serioiusly, while a cat will almost certainly refuse to be made a convenience of in any way at all. Familiar Table In addition to these skills, the Druid is assured of a friendly, or at least neutral, reaction from all encountered animals of the familiar's species. Strictures All Druids adhere to the following strictures: *Never harm an animal, except in self-defence or for food. *Never tamper with a stone circle, standing stone, or barrow and prevent others from doing so whenever possible. All Druids must commune with nature at least four times a year, at the spring and autumn equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices, spending 24 hours alone in natural surroundings corresponding to the special time/place for their familiar type, as shown on the table below. Druidic Priests must commune in this manner for 24 hours every full moon. Druids must adhere to the following stricture in return for the advantages conferred by their familiars: *Never kill or injure, nor allow to be killed or injured, an animal of the familiar's species, even in self-defence. Also, there are things that the Druid may or may not eat, according to the familiar's species. If the familiar is a herbivore (i.e., bison, elk, horse, rabbit, squirrel), the Druid must follow a strict vegetarian diet, with no meat or animal products. If the familiar is a predator (i.e., bat, cat, eagle, frog, owl, stoat, viper), the Druid may only eat meat and only the meat of animals which the Druid has killed personally. If the familiar is a fish-eater (i.e., otter, seal), the Druid may only eat fish, but need not always catch it personally. If the familiar is a scavenger or omnivore (i.e., bear, boar, fox, rat, raven, wolf), the Druid has no special dietary restrictions. Finally, there are more specific strictures, which depend on the familiar type. These are shown in the following table: The Armour column shows the type of armour the character is permitted to wear. The Shield column shows whether or not the character is permitted to carry a shield. The Weapons column shows types of weapons that the character is not allowed to use. The Times/Places column shows times and places that are special to the Druid. The Druid can only regain Magic Points by conducting a ten-minute ritual in such a place or at such a time; Magic Points are then regained at a rate of 10% per hour after the ritual. Spell Use Druids can use spells in the same way as Clerics. A Druid can use a blend of Petty Magic, Battle Magic, Elemental Magic, and specialist Druidic Magic; no more than one spell of each level available to the Druid may be drawn from Elemental and Battle Magic, but Druids can use Petty Magic with no restrictions. Skills In addition to the skills listed for Druids and Druidic Priests, characters will gain certain special skills from their familiars, as shown on the table above. The first skill is gained when the character attains level 1 and the second at level 2; in both cases, the skills are free and no Experience Points need be expended to gain them. Druids also gain a limited form of Augury, which allows them to predict changes in weather. In addition to the skills gained from their familiars, Druidic Priests may choose one skill from the following list whenever they advance a level: Augury (full strength), Astrology, Dream Interpretation, Scrying, Scapulomancy, and Tea Leaf Reading. Druidic Priests have a 1% chance of gaining Oracle and a 2% chance of gaining Visionary each time they rise in level; these skills cost 100 experience points each. Trials It may be necessary for a Druid to undertake a trial before advancing to the career of Druidic Priest. If so, the familiar type will already have been decided, although the character will not be aware of it. The gamesmaster should roll secretly on the Familiar Table, noting the character's familiar type for future reference, and set the character a trial accordingly. The character does not actually receive the familiar, nor any of the associated benefits, until the trial is completed. General Druidic trials might include finding and restoring (or arranging for the re-dedication of) a sacred grove or stone circle which has fallen into disuse, been ruined, or overrun by monsters. A Druid with a bat familiar might be required to clear a rockfall or a monster from a cave that used to be a breeding roost, while a Druid with a frog or otter familiar might have to find and unblock a dried-up spring in a wild and inaccessible place or free a water-course which has been dammed up by a mudslide or rockfall. Blessings Standard blessings might include one roll on the Ranger Skill Chart or the one-shot use of a Druidical Magic spell of the highest level that the character is normally able to use, with no Magic Points cost. Also, a Druid might gain the ability to shapechange into the form of the familiar's species and to speak to animals of that species at will and without Magic Point cost or some ability that is normally associated with the animal, such as flight, night vision, etc. Special Rules Barrows are the burial-mounds of the Druids' distant ancestors and it is forbidden for a Druid to break into one or to permit others to do so. No Druidical Magic will function inside a barrow and a Druid who disturbs the rest of a barrow's occupants will instantly lose all Druidical spells and abilities, one Fate Point, and D6 W''' permanently and must begin a randomly-determined Ranger career, never again to become a Druid. Occasionally, the occupant of a barrow may not have gone to rest properly and may manifest itself as a Wight; in such a case, a Druid or Druidic Priest may be able to lay the troubled spirit to rest permanently. Both Druid and Wight must make a '''WP test once per round; every time a test is made successfully, the other loses D10 WP points. If the Wight can be reduced to 0 WP, it will be laid to rest and disappears. Druids reduced to 0 WP become the Wight's mindless slave until it is destroyed. Lost WP points are regained at the rate of 10 per hour of undisturbed sleep. Lycanthropy, the condition that turns a normal Human into a Werecreature, is frequently caused when a Human somehow becomes possessed by an animal spirit which the human is unable to control. Druidic Priests whose familiar spirit is of the same species as the were-spirit can relieve someone of this curse; they must make a successful Int test and a successful WP test in order to contact the were-spirit and must then persuade the were-spirit to stop tormenting its victim, using Fel and any useful skills (e.g., Charm Animal) just as if they were talking to a normal NPC or animal. Were-spirits have the same characteristics as the animal type (i.e., the same as the Werecreature has while in animal form). If the Druid is successful, the were-spirit is tamed. It is not cast out, but remains with its host in a dormant state. There is a 10% chance that the host will receive each of the skills listed on the Familiar Table for the were-spirit's species. If ex-Werecreatures later become Druidic Priests, their dormant were-spirit reawakens to become their familiar. Category:Rules Category:Religion